About Us

James Bell, Consumer Advisor

James is a mental health Consumer Consultant at Barwon Health Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Services. Here he applies his mental health lived experience by assisting consumers to be involved in their treatment, support and recovery planning and inform and enhance services responses to quality improvement initiatives and frameworks.

Prior to this, he worked in hospital administration and as a Health Information Manager elsewhere in regional Victoria, and before that worked in the financial services industry. He is a volunteer for the mental health mutual support and personal development group Grow and is passionate about mental health support, services and reform.

Wendy Bourke, Consumer Advisor

Wendy has lived in Geelong for 45 years. Wendy has worked for 35 years in administration and now works for Ryman Healthcare Retirement Village in Ocean Grove. Wendy has been involved with committees of local sporting clubs and considers herself privileged to be a part of the steering committee that has overseen the implementation of an allabilities netball division with Geelong Football Netball League. It is important to Wendy that all members of the community are given the opportunity to be involved, heard and listened to. Wendy believes this offers an opportunity for growth and awareness for everyone involved. As a Consumer Advisor Wendy looks forward to using her past health experiences to encourage empathy and compassion to consumers of Barwon Health. 

Bruce Butler, Consumer Advisor

"As someone who has been very lucky in life, I feel a duty to exploit that lived experience. There is no better place in Geelong to offer that experience than with Barwon Health. Being a consumer advisor with Barwon Health gives me an opportunity to advocate for members of our community who are not in a position to advocate for themselves." - Bruce Butler

Bruce is a carer and advocate for a disabled young man. He has also volunteered at the University Hospital Geelong in several roles assisting the public. These experiences have demonstrated some of the challenges facing many in our community.  Those challenges arise from many difficulties in diverse areas such as mobility, sight, hearing, literacy, poverty, mental health, obesity, remote living, language and cultural difference. Bruce is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers UK and he had a long career as an engineer and manager in the natural gas industry which has provided him with a rich vein of experience and insight.  That insight is informed by working with many different cultures in Saudi Arabia, Russia, Holland, Japan and Malaysia. 

Kim Edgar, Consumer Advisor

Kim is a librarian and branch manager by profession and prior to working in libraries she worked in the hospitality, aviation and health sectors. Kim’s involvement with Barwon Health has been as a patient and as carer to her three sons. She has a particular interest in mental health awareness, youth suicide prevention and advocating for family inclusive practice after losing her middle son to suicide in 2018. Kim is also an active member of the headspace National Family and Friends Reference Group and plans to undertake studies in mental health peer work.

Anelyse Everill, Consumer Advisor

Anelyse brings 30 years of lived experience as a member of the gender diverse community and lives on a property west of Geelong where she harvests enough hay to feed her animals and replants natural shelter belts with Landcare. She looks after rescued race horses, dogs and sheep. She has worked in the hospitality industry for over 40 years, ranging from the offshore oil and mining industries, to five star hotel restaurants. The last 18 years of her career was as a TAFE teacher in hospitality management and commercial cookery. AneIyse is a member of several consumer advisory committees with health services including Monash Health, South West Healthcare, and Grampians Health. She has advised these organisations on a project led by the Victorian Department of Health to implement ‘change of name’ and ‘change of gender’ fields on iPM (Patient Administration System) and Electronic Medical Records intake forms. Anelyse’s most recent achievement was with Barwon Health co-designing an LBGTIQA+ specific resource for patients of our palliative care service.

Carolyn Flett, Consumer Advisor

Carolyn's recent appointment as Lived Experience Consultant with Barwon Health has been one of the highlights of her career. She is thrilled to be working in such a valuable space and is looking forward to developing her skills, knowledge and understanding of mental health by working with a broad range of stakeholders.
On a personal note, Carolyn has experienced mental health issues and has been a carer for a person with mental ill-health. 
Carolyn moved to the beautiful Bellarine from Melbourne in 2019 and is really looking forward to building personal relationships and becoming a valued part of the community.

Alison Lewis-Nicholson, Consumer Advisor Co-Chair

Alison started her working life via a Graduate program in Hospital Administration in the UK and after working in hospitals moved into Social work and Family Therapy. The majority of Alison’s career has been in Geelong in both public and private practice. Now retired, Alison is a volunteer in the Life Stories program in Barwon Health Palliative Care. Alison has an interest in how an individual navigates the large organisation of Barwon Health, to receive skilled and compassionate care.

Susan Sdrinis, Board Member

Susan is a medical practitioner and specialist medical administrator.

She has held roles as Executive Director Medical Services and Director Medical Services in Victorian public hospitals, and as a Senior Medical Advisor in the Victorian Department of Health.

Her interests are in the areas of clinical governance, medical governance and professional issues, and mentoring clinician managers and medical administrators in training.

Susan is also currently a member of the Victorian Health Complaints Commissioner Advisory Council.

Virginia Todd, Board Member

Virginia has 17 years’ experience working across five departments in the Victorian Public Service. She has worked both centrally and in regions in strategic land use planning, the community services sector, youth programs and on community strengthening programs.

Virginia also has an extensive history in service redevelopment of human services programs including foster care, residential based care and family support services. Virginia has experience in local government having been both an elected representative and senior manager. Currently, Virginia is a Senior Project Manager in Regional Development Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs Transport and Resources. 

Jason Trethowan. Community Advisory Committee Chair and Board Member

Jason Trethowan, Community Advisory Committee Chair and Board Member

Jason commenced as Chief Executive Officer at headspace, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation in January 2017. Jason has spent most of his career in the health sector where he has been driven by a passion to improve health services and access to care for all Australians. Before beginning at headspace he spent 18 months as CEO of the Western Victoria Primary Health Network and held previous CEO roles from 2007 with the General Practitioner’s Association of Geelong and Barwon Medicare Local.